How is Tourist Loyalty Affected by Chatbots Symbolic Recovery: A Mediation Model

Hani Abdelhady, Mohamed; Ghaly, Meril

doi:10.21608/mfth.2025.419174

How is Tourist Loyalty Affected by Chatbots Symbolic Recovery: A Mediation Model

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Tourism-Studies Department- AL-Alson Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotels

² Tourism-Studies Department- Suez Canal University, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel. The higher Institute for Specific Studies, Tourism Studies Department, Misr EL Gedida

10.21608/mfth.2025.419174

Abstract

AI-powered chatbots are becoming more widespread in the tourist industry for handling customer service difficulties; nevertheless, little is known about how they recover from these situations. Customer loyalty is anticipated to be positively impacted by the widespread use of chatbots. Using chatbots' performance and interaction customization as a lens, this research aims to examine how symbolic recovery affects tourists' loyalty. Additionally, it explores how chatbots' symbolic recovery affects tourists' ability to reconcile and remain loyal. The research used structural equation modeling to analyze data collected from 500 tourists through an online questionnaire distributed From November till January 2025. Based on the results, it appears that chatbots may help tourists to settle and continue to be loyal by increasing customer loyalty via symbolic recuperation. Another way in which chatbots' symbolic recovery affects tourists' loyalty is via tourist satisfaction. The results give promising information that tourist organizations may use to improve chatbots' symbolic recovery. Businesses catering to tourists will be motivated to use chatbots for service recovery if they are efficient in helping with symbolic rehabilitation and ensuring customer loyalty.

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